Now that you’re all recovering from your Star Wars Day activities and readying for Free Comic Book Day today, let’s look at the latest from Solo: A Star Wars Story. We seem to be transitioning from the high of the Avengers: Infinity War in April and heading toward the premier of Solo on May 25. And there seems to be no stopping the marketing folks at Lucasfilm. If you’ve been a fan of Star Wars since the beginning, you may find a new Lucasfilm video the greatest thing since blue milk. It’s the beginning of the scene where Lando and Han play cards, and Han offers up ships as the stakes. Is this the exact scene we’ll see in theaters, or one pretty close to it? It seems pretty likely, although don’t rule out last-minute edits as was done with Rogue One–the other awesome Star Wars Story–where much of the trailer footage ended up on the editing room floor. Check it out below, unless you want to wait to see it in the theater, but you’re not going to see it in this “virtual reality” 360 degree way in the theater.
Does this sneak peek hint at the future of the theatrical experience? We’ve seen the 360 degree clips before for other films, and some home video formats do allow the viewer to take control and move around during a film to some extent. How will that translate to the theaters years from now? Something like you’d find in a high-end theme park ride? Never before could moviegoers have such a detailed look at a film, in advance of release. Take a look at those aliens, like the two-headed fellow to Lando’s right, or the arthropoid with chelipeds to his left (that’s Therm Scissorpunch). These aliens are exquisite, instantly evoking the original Star Wars cantina where most of us first met Han and Chewbacca. We’re in for a great ride.
But there’s more: a new clip featuring the first scene with Chewbacca and Han flying together, backed by some of John Williams’ best music: sweeping, evocative cues from his “The Asteroid Field” music from The Empire Strikes Back. And another clip from director Ron Howard features some new looks at Chewbacca in front of and behind the camera. It just gets better and better.
In case you missed it yesterday, we have two highlights of this year’s Star Wars Day, both out of the UK. First up is the latest Abbey Road album cover homage. The Beatles albums have been parodied and honored in thousands of ways over the decades, but we love the above image of the original four cantina action figures from Kenner incorporated into the famous zebra crossing (if you know the source, let us know and we’ll credit it). And Heathrow airport went above and beyond for May the Fourth, with this fantastic flight schedule. Bravo! (But Alderaan? Too soon!).
Our new Lando, Donald Glover is hosting Saturday Night Live tonight. The show released a revised Solo poster for him. Take a look at it, plus a dozen new Solo posters and marketing image updates below (glasses, collectible tickets, buttons, and three trading card sets of 28 cards, too!), and the latest great clips, and don’t forget it’s Free Comic Book Day! Glover recently provided a tour of the Millennium Falcon (we’ve included that below, too):
